1.     European Commission (ECFIN), Statement by the European Commission and the ECB following the second post-programme surveillance mission to Portugal (March 2015) “Economic and financial conditions in Portugal have further improved since the conclusion of the first post-programme surveillance mission in autumn 2014. However, the economic recovery continues to be held back by the remaining macroeconomic imbalances. While the authorities...

- Environmental misgivings: why Parliament should reject the Juncker Commission, by Tony Long | Euractiv (29 September 2014) “The mandates in the mission letters are frequently far from bold, and in some cases are actually regressive. In the case of the Environment and Marine and Fisheries Commissioner, there is a pronounced deregulatory emphasis with the habitats and birds directives, the air quality legislation and the circular economy agend...

1.European Commission-Towards the Juncker Commission: Mission Letters (10 September 2014) 2.European Parliament-Towards a new Commission: Hearings (30 September 2014) 3.European Commission-Public opinion: Attitudes of European citizens towards the environment (September 2014) “The most acute concerns relate to pollution of both air and water, the amount of waste that is generated in the EU, and the depletion of natural resources. The impact...

A sustainable economy can bring 'massive co-benefits', by Sebastien Godinot | The Parliament Magazine (28 May 2014) “The crisis that Europe has been suffering over the last years is systemic: it is financial, budgetary, environmental, social and political. Going back to business as usual is not an option. Europe is over-consuming resources and destroying its natural capital. With over 27 million people unemployed in the EU and a growth of...

1.  European Commission-ECFIN: Statement by Vice-President Kallas on Portugal (17 May 2014)  “After Ireland and Spain, Portugal is the third euro area country to successfully graduate from its financial assistance programme. While this is a cause for celebration, there is no cause for complacency. To deliver a more robust recovery and bring down the still unacceptably high level of unemployment, it will be essential to maintain an unwaver...

- Why Economists Can No Longer Ignore Environmental Issues | Economy Watch (29 April 2014). “How many Superstorm Sandys will it take? By how much does the sea level have to rise? How many severe droughts and floods (and where) will it take before we come to the realisation that ignoring natural capital and its many externalities is simply bad economics? The difference between the financial and environmental crisis is that we actually do hav...

1.European Commission-ECFIN: The Second Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece-Fourth Review (April 2014) 2.European Commission-ECFIN: The Economic Adjustment Programme for Portugal - Eleventh Review (April 2014) 3.European Commission-ECFIN: Commission staff carry out fifth Post-Programme Surveillance mission to Latvia (10 April 2014) 4.Special Eurobarometer 413 – Future of Europe (March 2014) “Towards 2020: priorities and preferences ...

1.European Commission-ECFIN: Commission concludes in-depth reviews to identify macroeconomic imbalances and assesses progress in fiscal consolidation (5 March 2014) “The contribution of large Member States to growth in Europe is important. Among the largest euro area Member States, the policy priorities should be on: strengthening domestic demand and medium-term growth in Germany; addressing bottlenecks to medium-term growth while working on s...

How Germany's development bank will fund a giant lignite plant in Greece | Energy Desk - Greenpeace UK (24 March 2014). "KfW is one of the few Western development banks left that has no policy phasing out new coal investments. ¶ In October last year US president Obama pushed through new guidance from the US Treasury that it wouldn’t finance coal plants abroad - through the World Bank and other international development institutions - unl...

EU warned ‘do not play with fire’ over energy rebates for German industry | Euractiv (27 February 2014) "During a recent visit to Brussels, German energy minister Sigmar Gabriel praised EU efforts for re-industrialisation. But he also fiercely defended industrial exemptions from his country's renewable energy surcharge, warning the European Commission not to "play with fire" ahead of the EU elections, EurActiv Germany reports." In Europe, D...